Press conferences are boring lately

The press conference I thought was quite the thing to look forward too once the driving was over, Mansell, Senna and Prost all sat there, or Schumacher, Hakkinen and Irvine etc, you get a group of characters of differeing degrees, makes for a interesting conference.

I'm not taking a dig at their driving skills, but Alonso, Hamilton and Kimi, Massa, Hekki, and other guys, it's very plan and bland what comes out of their mouths.

The problem is, you know exactly what most of the drivers would say in the press conference, something like this:

I'm happy for myself and the team

Yes are main rivals were not where they are, but we'll work hard as we'll know they'll be back.

Drivers share a quick giggle

On to the next race, how do you see things?

A. Were confident we have a good car

I expect a tougher race in Sepang, the heatTough on enginesI'm happyThe team deserve itThe car was a dream to drive.

BUT ONE GOOD THING REMAINS

You get two drivers who have a dispute, and their in the press conference together, like Montoya and Schumacher, or Massa and ALonso, or Hamilton and ALonso, then you have interesting constrast, but it's not there often enough.

Is it just me, or because their all very young, added with the corporate texture, the Press Conference has lost the appeal, is anyone else feel that or I'm I getting older and seen f1 for too long? I guess if your new into f1, this discovering f1 world might actually be exciting, as you haven't seen f1 many years ago etc We got so many young stars, but not enough older ones, and Couthard and Rubens hardly make the podium, you feel like it's f1 for teens. This thread is probabley aimed at a f1 fan who's seen f1 for a good 5 years or more.

Its all too polished and too much business-orientated i reckon + the young drivers probably don't want to upset anybody by saying something a teeny weeny bit contreversial

The senna and mansell press conferences were fun tho i remember watching one when Senna went off on one about Prost and threw the glass off the table + Mansell was sitting next to him laughing and applauding

Originally posted by BuonoBruttoCattivo I hate in when individuals refer to "We had a good car..." "We qualified well..."This corporate/team spirit subservience is really getting annoying...

Valen, how are you?

BuonoBruttoCattivo, I am well.

I guess I'll picky when to spend minutes of my life listening to bland press conferences, I rather make a coffee and come online to discuss the driving, the PR press conferences really are a buzz kill after a race.

Maybe they should just get some random fan from the track, gets lucky and their invited to the press conference, and let them ask the drivers questions, and considing it's a random fan lol, they could say something more interesting, what if that fan dislikes the driver a bit and askes something odd, something powerful, never know, let the drivers meet the public this way, they don't make enough time to do it during the weekend anyway, they are all hidden from the fans who spend their money on them. Those in charge lost the plot ages ago, I know Bernie is old school and has expressed the need for entertainers, but I don't see him implementing these ideas, I don't know, maybe it's for kiddies era f1 press conferences, family friendly.

Press conferences are not just boring lately, they have been for ages.

I am of the opinion there should be less interview sessions in general so the news and quotes that do come out are more 'valuable' and interesting to read. Usually the same questions are asked again and again and again. Most drivers haven't got a great deal to say and a lot of journalists are little inventive with what they ask...

Originally posted by giacomo I think drivers simply aren't interested into press conferences at all.

As a consequence they keep it short and nondescript.

Maybe were unlucky then, to not have the charisma of Senna, he was powerful in a P conference, like a film he made it. Schumacher was a big team motivator, he pretty much did the team and "we" attitude, it was never "I" with Michael, he pretty much went out of his way to respect the team in quotes, plus now and again he could tell a lie or show some psychology that made it interesting or funny.

"I like to excuse myself."Schumacher said, after Canada 1998, and coming out in front of HHF at the pitlane exit. When you are the man to beat so often, you can't hide all the time, so there were times Schumacher slipped up in press conferences.

Hakkinen has some brief comical quiet timing, that he didn't try to be funny, but he would come out with words like Rambo, he's quiet, then suddenly says something you won't forget.

Alesi was just a passionate man, he showed his admiration for being able to compete.

Irvine was a goof, a complete change of pace from Schumacher, which is why they made a entertaining pair in the P conference. Irvine lived up his image of being in Ferrari, he was enjoying himself and wouldn't you yourself enjoy being in ferrari, that's what Irvine represented! Why some liked him.

Rubens was a teletubby, seemed innconcent, traped in the world of ferrari hoping to convince the world he'll take the title off schumi, I mean it must of been hard to get beaten so often, then come out with positive comments about the new year, not a bad effort in the P conference, like a big kid who got his cake lol Plus he was a link to the Senna era a bit, being involved in Senna's last season in 1993, so him and Schumi brought a packaged experience of f1 eras.

David Coulthard loves competing in f1 and pretty much shows, he's been silly at times, but once he left Mclaren, I think people enjoyed a vetran still hanging around and enjoying it.

Ralf Schumacher was Schumi's brother, it was a family thing, a interesting contrast to track battles, when they did need to compete in 2001/2003

Who remembers one qualifying press conference... I think it was 1999 or 2000... when Hakkinen and Irvine had a lot of fun... Can't remember exactly what happened...but Mika tried to pour juice on Eddie because of something he said. Yeah, they're usually boring...but that one was an exception to the rule.

Originally posted by AFCA Usually the same questions are asked again and again and again. Most drivers haven't got a great deal to say and a lot of journalists are little inventive with what they ask...

Good point, though I think you recently posted an interview in which Kimi was asked about whether or not he believed in aliens... that sure is inventive if somewhat off topic.

Apocalypse; the Hakkinen/Irvine thing happened in Canada 1999, there are sure to be some videos of that online. The Montoya/Schumacher discussion occurred in Italy, at the San Marino GP of 2004. Montoya had a couple of those sarcastic moments, and it certainly wasn't boring.

Originally posted by SeanValen The press conference I thought was quite the thing to look forward too once the driving was over, Mansell, Senna and Prost all sat there, or Schumacher, Hakkinen and Irvine etc, you get a group of characters of differeing degrees, makes for a interesting conference.

I'm not taking a dig at their driving skills, but Alonso, Hamilton and Kimi, Massa, Hekki, and other guys, it's very plan and bland what comes out of their mouths.

The problem is, you know exactly what most of the drivers would say in the press conference, something like this:

I'm happy for myself and the team

Yes are main rivals were not where they are, but we'll work hard as we'll know they'll be back.

Drivers share a quick giggle

On to the next race, how do you see things?

A. Were confident we have a good car

I expect a tougher race in Sepang, the heatTough on enginesI'm happyThe team deserve itThe car was a dream to drive.

BUT ONE GOOD THING REMAINS

You get two drivers who have a dispute, and their in the press conference together, like Montoya and Schumacher, or Massa and ALonso, or Hamilton and ALonso, then you have interesting constrast, but it's not there often enough.

Is it just me, or because their all very young, added with the corporate texture, the Press Conference has lost the appeal, is anyone else feel that or I'm I getting older and seen f1 for too long? I guess if your new into f1, this discovering f1 world might actually be exciting, as you haven't seen f1 many years ago etc We got so many young stars, but not enough older ones, and Couthard and Rubens hardly make the podium, you feel like it's f1 for teens. This thread is probabley aimed at a f1 fan who's seen f1 for a good 5 years or more.

Originally posted by SeanValen We got so many young stars, but not enough older ones, and Couthard and Rubens hardly make the podium, you feel like it's f1 for teens. This thread is probabley aimed at a f1 fan who's seen f1 for a good 5 years or more.

F1 for teens? What?!

I spent the entirety of my teenage life watching F1, and I can assure you that as a teenager I enjoyed seeing drivers acting silly or critical of one another in the press conference.

Originally posted by Crazy Ninja Its all too polished and too much business-orientated i reckon + the young drivers probably don't want to upset anybody by saying something a teeny weeny bit contreversial

The senna and mansell press conferences were fun tho i remember watching one when Senna went off on one about Prost and threw the glass off the table + Mansell was sitting next to him laughing and applauding

Yeah, that was my favourite one. It was about Prost being a coward for including a clause in his contract with Williams forbiding Senna joining the team. Estoril 1992.

I see the general point being made, but using Schumacher and Hakkinen as examples to some kind of glorious press conference era must be some kind of joke itself. I'm convinced they were agents for the pro-Narcolepsy association.

Senna obviously had a presence that I think no other driver had or has and he did have a way with words. Piquet and Berger would always provide good laughs and its a shame old Martin Brundle didnt make it on to the podium a bit more. I remember Piquet saying he would set the Williams factory on fire if they asked him to help Mansell for the championship.

Even old Nige was ok-ish - in terms of revealing his inferiority complex and constant need to tell the world how impossible to drive his car was on any given day.

Damon was good. Not funny, but like Senna, gave a good, interesting account on events.

They've always been boring. One thing that got on my nerves was when lewis thanked 'Vodafone McLaren Mercedes'. Just seemed dead cheesy and i just cringed and disliked him more....which i didn't actually think was possible.

Originally posted by Ghostrider Eddie Irvine was usually quite funny in the press-conferences.

Irv the swerve was always entertaining. Anyone remember a press conference from 1996 where Jacques Villeneuve was attempting to say 'Rothmans Williams Renault' but couldn't get the order of the 3 words right and Eddie pulled him up on it and wanted him to repeat it a number of times to grasp it!

Senna and Mansell were usually pretty good value and in recent times, Hakkinen, Irvine, Montoya etc were great.

Originally posted by krferrari07 They've always been boring. One thing that got on my nerves was when lewis thanked 'Vodafone McLaren Mercedes'. Just seemed dead cheesy and i just cringed and disliked him more....which i didn't actually think was possible.

What about MS or Kimi thanking Ferrari, its what they're supposed to do, people would complain if they never thanked the team as they did against Alonso

Originally posted by Apocalypse Who remembers one qualifying press conference... I think it was 1999 or 2000... when Hakkinen and Irvine had a lot of fun... Can't remember exactly what happened...but Mika tried to pour juice on Eddie because of something he said. Yeah, they're usually boring...but that one was an exception to the rule.

The press conferences are ridiculous now. The only person I like to hear is Alonso, because he is fairly articulate in English.

Even a few years ago was good although, much as I like Schumi, he was never particularly great in the conferences.

The best was easily Senna of course, as people mentioned the classic Estoril conference was one of many.

The worst part about now is that the "kids" are total corporate whores. I'm sure that even Alonso last year would sometimes say "McLaren" instead of Lewis always 100% saying "Vodafone McLaren Mercedes". It's ridiculous and you can tell it is in their contracts but they won't get fined for occasionally just saying McLaren!!

Basically, they think too much about what they say and don't just say how they feel.

What next? Ferrari drivers saying "Thanks to Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro for the win". That is their full team name you know.

Originally posted by Ghostrider Eddie Irvine was usually quite funny in the press-conferences.

I remember in 2002 in Monza where he got on podium in Jaguar that had been strugling all season and started explaining how much effort it took from the team how they changed gearbox, engine, aero, something else, something else when finally MS interrupted him with "Oh, please, Eddie, just tell us what you have NOT changed!"